Hi there! My name is Alexis McGee, many people know me as “Allie”—I will answer to either! I am from Charleston, SC, but I lived in a small town outside of Nashville during my younger years. I graduated from Charleston Southern University in 2012 with my B.A. in English and minor in History. I began teaching English straight out of college at Northwood Academy in North Charleston. My first year teaching was one of the craziest years of my life! I was teaching 6 classes (3-8th Grade/ 3-9th Grade) and coaching varsity football/basketball/competitive cheerleading. I was basically given 2 textbooks, the keys to my classroom, and a "good luck" as I was sent on my way. Three days before I had students in my classroom, I was told that I would have an ESL student from Russia in my freshman English class. However, ESL was not exactly the proper title; this student did not speak ANY English! Needless to say, I relied heavily on Google Translate that year. This is now my 5th year teaching English. After my first year at Northwood, I was offered a job teaching 9th and 11th grade English at my alma mater, First Baptist School in downtown Charleston.
At First Baptist, I have adopted several different roles as a teacher. I am the head Varsity Coach for our cheerleading program. We have won SCISA (South Carolina Independent School Association) State the past two years. Aside from my teaching and coaching responsibilities, I am also in charge of Homecoming/Spirit Week, Homecoming Dance, and Junior/Senior Prom. After my first semester teaching at First Baptist, I decided to add on the stress of grad school to my already hectic schedule! I will finish my MAT in December, so close yet so far! My administration has been extremely supportive of my journey through grad school, and they have been extremely flexible through all the chaos. After I finish my MAT, I plan to take some time to enjoy what I truly love, teaching! Yes, I am teaching right now, but my energy is dispersed in so many different direction with grad school, coaching, teaching, and other responsibilities that I feel I am not able to give 100% to my students like I would want to. I am excited for this fast-paced life of mine to slow down a bit so I can enjoy my students, my friends, my family, and my (furry) children.
My (furry) children: Ashleigh (top), Sully (bottom)
My "book" lockers I painted in my classroom!
SCISA State Competition 2015
Goals for Technology in My Classroom:
Currently:
I use several forms of technology in my classroom:
-SmartBoard
-Turnitin.com
-Kahoot.It
-Google Forms
-QR Codes
-Padlet
-PowerPoint
-YouTube
Goals:
-To be able to implement Google Classroom into my classroom routine
-To be able to implement student technology into my everyday classroom routine (something that they could use each day)
-To be able to branch out of the typical "SmartBoard" & "PowerPoint" presentations and learn how to use other forms of technology to present information to the class.
Ideas:
I would like to use current novels or pieces of literature that I am using in my 9th & 11th grade classrooms. (To Kill a Mockingbird, Civil War Research, Beowulf, MacBeth)--possibly find a new way to introduce these pieces to my students.
Challenges:
My biggest challenge when it comes to technology is using the same skill over and over. I need to make an active effort to prevent repetition in my technology techniques in the classroom.
Help:
Be patient with me as I sometimes can be technologically challenged!
Prezi:
I chose to create my Prezi presentation on Frankenstein because I am actually discussing some of the themes of Frankenstein with my 11th grade students this week. Frankenstein was on their required reading for summer reading, but I have assigned them a small research group project where they have to research topics like GMOs, Cloning, Drones, etc. They will present both the negatives and positives of their chosen topics and relate it back to some part of the text of Frankenstein. The article snapshots that I placed at the end of the presentation are articles that we are reading together in class, but this serves as a reminder for me when I am teaching to pause to discuss these articles. I did the same thing with the slide of "The Birth of Frankenstein". I placed a picture of the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" because we are reading that in class this week and discussing the inspiration that formed from that specific poem. Overall, I am pleased with my Prezi. My only complaint/frustration was when I tried to create the "Frame Story" slide. Originally, I was trying to set it up to zoom into a new box for each "layer" of the frame story, but Prezi would only let me "zoom" so far until it sent the me "Error: Cannot Zoom Further" message. So, I had to settle for a screenshot that I created in PowerPoint and placed it into Prezi. I think this was the second Prezi presentation that I've ever made! I can see myself making more Prezis in the future for my classroom.
I actually just used this project in my class for my 11th graders! I am looking for a way to incorporate a similar assignment for my 9th graders with their upcoming reading assignments. I had to do an "Animoto" video for another class last summer, and it gave me the idea to create a video assignment for my students. During their summer reading, they were required to read Frankenstein, and they could pick one British celebrity/actor/actress/author/etc biography to read. For their chosen biography, I had them create short documentary/movie trailer videos to capture key information about their person. This was a chance for students to escape the typical biography essay and be able to display creativity while learning how to use different movie-making programs. I've attached the instructions and rubric below. I've also included a few sample videos from my students so you can see the final product! I had my students fill out a "project reflection questionnaire" after we showed all of the videos in class; most students really enjoyed this particular assignment. I had a few students who became extremely frustrated with the technological aspect of the project, but overall the students seemed to receive this project well.
My 9th graders are currently reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Typically, I introduce the author's background and initial information through a formal presentation that I give. However, I am changing the assignment for the next time I introduce this novella to incorporate online editing. I will create a Google Slides shared presentation and share the slideshow with the entire class. I will split the class into groups and assign each group a different background slide to create. I have listed the topics below that I would include. Students will be instructed to create a slide with their groups to fully explain their topic. They will be required to use proper MLA citations when citing material and pictures/graphics. This will be completed in class, and it will allow me to also see what students are doing as well as make changes/suggestions as necessary. They will then create their own "script" and summary of what they have found about their particular topic. They post this on shared Google Docs that will allow for peer editing and allow for me to make comments and suggestions for further editing before they present in front of their peers.
Group Topics:
1. Sandra Cisneros's childhood (who were her parents/where was she born/where she grew up/attended school/etc.)
2. Sandra Cisneros's college years (where she went to college/degree/etc.)
3. Influence of Cisneros's writing (what/who inspired her to write)
4. Reviews of Cisneros' novella The House on Mango Street (what are critics saying about this piece?)
Oral History Lesson Plan:
My 9th graders typically read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet during late October, early November. I normally spend a good deal of time introducing not only the novel itself but also the historical background surrounding it. For those who have not read the book, it is a great historical fiction piece! It is a young love story that takes place during the internment in World War II. This book has the historical aspect for those history lovers, but it also has a love story for those hopeless romantics.
For the lesson plan, I typically introduce basic background information on World War II. The students are also covering this information in their history class. Students will start off by responding to the "Padlet" form below to brainstorm about what they know already about WWII and Japanese Internment Camps. I will give them a brief background introduction and discuss WWII based on their posts on the "Padlet" page. We will then discuss what we know about Japanese Internment camps, and I will give a little more detailed discussion of this.
Japanese Internment Camp Padlet
I will show students this video to give them an idea of internment camps by showing an internment camp survivor interview.
I will give students a chance to jot down their reactions and thoughts about the interview.
Students will then break up into groups for a "stations" activity. This will give students the opportunity to play the role of a "fact checker", "biased opinion", or "devil's advocate". Each station will contain an image representing historical information or scene from the Japanese Internment Camps. I've given a brief example to the left here. After students go through each station they will have to place themselves in a different perspective and respond accordingly.
Students will then choose one of the oral history interviews on the website below to watch individually and write a 1-page reflection. This reflection should include their first impressions of the interview, elements that were surprising/shocking, and questions they might have. This should be typed in MLA format. Students will bring this in next class to turn in, and each student will have a chance to discuss their chosen oral history.
This will give students a better perspective of how internees lived during WWII when we begin to read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
Wiki:
For my Wiki page, I decided to create a classroom page for my 9th graders. This Wiki will consist of grammar activities that students will be required to complete each week. I will also use the Wiki for interactive assignments in which students will post directly to their Wikipages (see "Parallel Reading" & "Word Analysis" pages on Wiki). I wanted this page to be not only used for posts and interaction between classmates, but also used for students to create their own pages and post their assignments. I also included a "Questions" page on the Wiki where students can post questions about specific assignments or simply navigating the Wiki. I would be able to provide answers to their questions, as well as those of their classmates. McGeeEnglish9Wiki
Blogs:
For my blog assignment, I decided to incorporate a writing portfolio that I already use with my 9th grade students, but I will now make it digital! In the past I have asked students to create a hard-copy final writing portfolio that they create while we are reading The House on Mango Street. This typically works well, but I end up with a lot of wasted paper! I have changed my requirements slightly for the assignment so that my students can create a blog. I have attached the assignment as well as a list of the writing prompts that they complete in their journals during class while we read each chapter/vignette. I think that this will be a better way for me to look at each portfolio, and it will make grading easier! I also think most students will enjoy creating their own blog. This is something that we can also keep working on throughout the year after we finish the initial portfolios.
The article that I read is titled, "Exploring the Use of Educational Technology in Primary Education: Teachers' Perception of Mobile Technology Learning Impacts and Applications' Use in the Classroom" out of the Computers in Human Behavior Journal. This particular article reviews a study conducted in 12 different schools in Spain. While this study was conducted in Spain, I think it still is relative to schools in the U.S. because this study covers teachers' perceptions of technology used in the classroom. The study collected data from roughly 102 teachers ranging from grades 1st-12th. The main purpose of this study was to find out how teachers perceive the impact of technology on their students' educational experience. A lot of the data collected revolved around the frequency with which teachers used specific apps or some sort of technology in the classroom and what impact they believed the technology had on their students specifically. Was it beneficial? Was it more of a hassle?
Surprisingly, in some of the general results, teachers found collaborative learning to be less useful than integrating educational apps into their daily classroom plans. This particular article also revealed a very important point that I feel is true no matter where or what you teach...the teacher's attitude towards technology really impacts the effectiveness of technology used in the classroom. The results to this study revealed that teachers who were adding in technology just simply out to fulfill a requirement actually made less of an impact on students than those who were energetic about using technology in the classroom. The results also revealed that many of the educational apps being used (especially in primary grades) are actually ineffective based on data and research. Looking through the data and reading through this study forced me to think about my own teaching. If I use technology in the classroom, it must be purposeful and something that I am excited about. Otherwise, I cannot reach my students. I think this is true for all teaching techniques but especially technology. Our attitudes towards technology can make or break the effectiveness of it in our classrooms.
Domingo, Marta Gomez, and Antoni Badia Gargante. "Exploring the Use of Educational Technology in Primary Education: Teachers' Perception of
Mobile Technology Learning Impacts and Applications' Use in the Classroom." Elsevier (2015): 21-28. Rpt. in Computers in Human Behavior. Vol. 56. N.p.: Science Direct, 2016. 21-28. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Emerging Technology:
For this project, I decide to focus on a particular technology that I have been using for several different purposes in my classroom this year. I am certain there are several other uses of this particular technology, and I feel that this particular technology is under-used in the classroom. I have been using a combination of Google Forms and QR Code Generators in my classroom this year. For this particular project, I decided to focus on a way that I can use this technology in my classroom to enhance my time, effort, and paper. I created a Google Forms Quiz (which if you haven't ventured into the Google Forms territory before, I suggest you do so). The Google Forms Quiz is a quick reading check on The Crucible Act 1 (which is the text my 9th graders are currently reading). In the actual Google Forms document, I am able to type in the questions I want to ask and list multiple choice, fill in the blank, or short answer/paragraph. I am also able to provide Google with my answer key so that it automatically recognizes when students answer correctly or incorrectly. Now, I go to the QR Code generator and create a QR code for my Google Forms Quiz. This code will allow students to access my quiz from their phones, ipads, or tablets. Students can actually use SnapChat as a QR Code Scanner, so most of them will not even have to download a QR Code Scanner App. As my students walk into class, the QR Code for their daily quiz will be posted on the board or somewhere in the classroom. Students will scan the code in order to begin their quiz. I am able to access the results in a Google Sheets document and it documents each student's quiz results which allows me to quickly assess and grade daily quizzes. Another use for this technology is classroom bathroom/hall passes. I have QR Codes designated for the bathroom, locker, office, and nurse on the board near my door. Instead of my students scanning the code and taking a quiz, they are prompted to type in their name. I have the Google Forms document set to track dates and times for this particular document. This eliminates a lot of interruptions in the classroom! I have just started using this form of technology in my classroom, but I feel as though the possibilities are endless. I really like the convenience of this technology, and I feel that it is one that certainly aids the teacher's organization and work load but also enhances student learning. I feel this is not a type of technology that is used just for the sake of using technology.
QR Code for The Crucible Quiz Act 1 Part 1 Reading Check:
Revision Project: Wiki
For my revision project, I decided to edit and revise my Wiki Project. I liked my original Wiki project, but I actually ended up using a Wiki page in my 11th grade classes for their Parallel Reading Assignment this semester. I thought this might be a better use of the Wiki than my original plan. For this assignment, my students can choose from four novels loosely based on Robin Hood as we study Robin Hood in class. Each semester or quarter, students are required to read a novel outside of class. The novel is sometimes chosen for them or they are given options, but it always aligns (parallels) with what we are reading/studying in class. The students chose from the following novels:
They had roughly 7-8 weeks to obtain the novel and begin reading on their own. I also provide surprise "silent reading" times during class periods throughout the 8 weeks to give students an opportunity to read. They are instructed to complete the following assignment:
Divide your book into fourths (by chapter or page count, your choice)
Join the Class Wiki Page
After you finish reading each "fourth"--create an original post 2-3 paragraphs of your own reflection, thoughts, first impressions, and respond to the discussion questions provided for your chosen book (get creative, include visuals, links, etc)
EACH time you post, respond to TWO of your classmates (1 who has read your book and 1 who is reading something different)
Responses should be 3-5 thoughtful sentences
Reminder: ALL posts due on December 5th. This is a self-paced assignment. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE! Your classmates are depending on you so that they can complete the assignment as well. I will be periodically interacting and checking posts made on the Wiki.
This counts as TWO quiz grades.
Here is a link to the Wiki Page. I'm sure this week there will be a lot of activity throughout the next few days as it is due next week!
I was nervous beginning this course as I feared that I would be introduced to a tremendous amount of technology and struggle to use it. I am pleasantly surprised--and I survived! Now, that is not to say that this course did not pose challenges for me, but I was pleased with the pace and the skills that were introduced. Looking back over my projects, I feel that as I completed more and more assignments, the easier it became. I was concerned that I wasn’t going to find a need for the technology that we were introduced to, but I immediately started incorporating our assignments into my own classroom! I became much more comfortable and tech-savvy! Surprisingly, I was very hesitant about using a Wiki in my classroom. I felt that it would be more work than it was worth, but I’ve now used a Wiki with my 9th graders and my 11th graders and am extremely pleased. I feel that I still have a lot to learn and a lot to discover, but I feel like this course gave me a great foundation. I also learned a lot from watching and listening to our classmates during their presentations. Every class period I heard at least one presentation that I was jotting down ideas to research further or steal to use in my classroom! I think this course inspired me to use technology more often in my classroom. This is my 5th year teaching, and when I first started I used different technology all the time--but you start to get set in “your ways” and quit reinventing the wheel after teaching a few years. This was a great refresher and a great motivator for me to implement more technology back into my classroom.
Meet Alexis:
Hi there! My name is Alexis McGee, many people know me as “Allie”—I will answer to either! I am from Charleston, SC, but I lived in a small town outside of Nashville during my younger years. I graduated from Charleston Southern University in 2012 with my B.A. in English and minor in History. I began teaching English straight out of college at Northwood Academy in North Charleston. My first year teaching was one of the craziest years of my life! I was teaching 6 classes (3-8th Grade/ 3-9th Grade) and coaching varsity football/basketball/competitive cheerleading. I was basically given 2 textbooks, the keys to my classroom, and a "good luck" as I was sent on my way. Three days before I had students in my classroom, I was told that I would have an ESL student from Russia in my freshman English class. However, ESL was not exactly the proper title; this student did not speak ANY English! Needless to say, I relied heavily on Google Translate that year. This is now my 5th year teaching English. After my first year at Northwood, I was offered a job teaching 9th and 11th grade English at my alma mater, First Baptist School in downtown Charleston.
At First Baptist, I have adopted several different roles as a teacher. I am the head Varsity Coach for our cheerleading program. We have won SCISA (South Carolina Independent School Association) State the past two years. Aside from my teaching and coaching responsibilities, I am also in charge of Homecoming/Spirit Week, Homecoming Dance, and Junior/Senior Prom. After my first semester teaching at First Baptist, I decided to add on the stress of grad school to my already hectic schedule! I will finish my MAT in December, so close yet so far! My administration has been extremely supportive of my journey through grad school, and they have been extremely flexible through all the chaos. After I finish my MAT, I plan to take some time to enjoy what I truly love, teaching! Yes, I am teaching right now, but my energy is dispersed in so many different direction with grad school, coaching, teaching, and other responsibilities that I feel I am not able to give 100% to my students like I would want to. I am excited for this fast-paced life of mine to slow down a bit so I can enjoy my students, my friends, my family, and my (furry) children.
Goals for Technology in My Classroom:
Currently:
I use several forms of technology in my classroom:
-SmartBoard-Turnitin.com
-Kahoot.It
-Google Forms
-QR Codes
-Padlet
-PowerPoint
-YouTube
Goals:
-To be able to implement Google Classroom into my classroom routine-To be able to implement student technology into my everyday classroom routine (something that they could use each day)
-To be able to branch out of the typical "SmartBoard" & "PowerPoint" presentations and learn how to use other forms of technology to present information to the class.
Ideas:
I would like to use current novels or pieces of literature that I am using in my 9th & 11th grade classrooms. (To Kill a Mockingbird, Civil War Research, Beowulf, MacBeth)--possibly find a new way to introduce these pieces to my students.Challenges:
My biggest challenge when it comes to technology is using the same skill over and over. I need to make an active effort to prevent repetition in my technology techniques in the classroom.Help:
Be patient with me as I sometimes can be technologically challenged!Prezi:
Digital Storytelling:
Audrey Hepburn Video Project
Andy Murray Video Project
Online Editing Project:
1. Sandra Cisneros's childhood (who were her parents/where was she born/where she grew up/attended school/etc.)
2. Sandra Cisneros's college years (where she went to college/degree/etc.)
3. Influence of Cisneros's writing (what/who inspired her to write)
4. Reviews of Cisneros' novella The House on Mango Street (what are critics saying about this piece?)
Oral History Lesson Plan:
For the lesson plan, I typically introduce basic background information on World War II. The students are also covering this information in their history class. Students will start off by responding to the "Padlet" form below to brainstorm about what they know already about WWII and Japanese Internment Camps. I will give them a brief background introduction and discuss WWII based on their posts on the "Padlet" page. We will then discuss what we know about Japanese Internment camps, and I will give a little more detailed discussion of this.
Japanese Internment Camp Padlet
I will show students this video to give them an idea of internment camps by showing an internment camp survivor interview.
Telling Stories: Chizu Iilayma
Students will then break up into groups for a "stations" activity. This will give students the opportunity to play the role of a "fact checker", "biased opinion", or "devil's advocate". Each station will contain an image representing historical information or scene from the Japanese Internment Camps. I've given a brief example to the left here. After students go through each station they will have to place themselves in a different perspective and respond accordingly.
Students will then choose one of the oral history interviews on the website below to watch individually and write a 1-page reflection. This reflection should include their first impressions of the interview, elements that were surprising/shocking, and questions they might have. This should be typed in MLA format. Students will bring this in next class to turn in, and each student will have a chance to discuss their chosen oral history.
Telling Their Stories: Japanese Internees
This will give students a better perspective of how internees lived during WWII when we begin to read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
Wiki:
For my Wiki page, I decided to create a classroom page for my 9th graders. This Wiki will consist of grammar activities that students will be required to complete each week. I will also use the Wiki for interactive assignments in which students will post directly to their Wikipages (see "Parallel Reading" & "Word Analysis" pages on Wiki). I wanted this page to be not only used for posts and interaction between classmates, but also used for students to create their own pages and post their assignments. I also included a "Questions" page on the Wiki where students can post questions about specific assignments or simply navigating the Wiki. I would be able to provide answers to their questions, as well as those of their classmates.
McGeeEnglish9Wiki
Blogs:
Technology Publication:
The article that I read is titled, "Exploring the Use of Educational Technology in Primary Education: Teachers' Perception of Mobile Technology Learning Impacts and Applications' Use in the Classroom" out of the Computers in Human Behavior Journal. This particular article reviews a study conducted in 12 different schools in Spain. While this study was conducted in Spain, I think it still is relative to schools in the U.S. because this study covers teachers' perceptions of technology used in the classroom. The study collected data from roughly 102 teachers ranging from grades 1st-12th. The main purpose of this study was to find out how teachers perceive the impact of technology on their students' educational experience. A lot of the data collected revolved around the frequency with which teachers used specific apps or some sort of technology in the classroom and what impact they believed the technology had on their students specifically. Was it beneficial? Was it more of a hassle?
Surprisingly, in some of the general results, teachers found collaborative learning to be less useful than integrating educational apps into their daily classroom plans. This particular article also revealed a very important point that I feel is true no matter where or what you teach...the teacher's attitude towards technology really impacts the effectiveness of technology used in the classroom. The results to this study revealed that teachers who were adding in technology just simply out to fulfill a requirement actually made less of an impact on students than those who were energetic about using technology in the classroom. The results also revealed that many of the educational apps being used (especially in primary grades) are actually ineffective based on data and research. Looking through the data and reading through this study forced me to think about my own teaching. If I use technology in the classroom, it must be purposeful and something that I am excited about. Otherwise, I cannot reach my students. I think this is true for all teaching techniques but especially technology. Our attitudes towards technology can make or break the effectiveness of it in our classrooms.
Domingo, Marta Gomez, and Antoni Badia Gargante. "Exploring the Use of Educational Technology in Primary Education: Teachers' Perception of
Mobile Technology Learning Impacts and Applications' Use in the Classroom." Elsevier (2015): 21-28. Rpt. in Computers in Human Behavior. Vol. 56. N.p.: Science Direct, 2016. 21-28. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Emerging Technology:
For this project, I decide to focus on a particular technology that I have been using for several different purposes in my classroom this year. I am certain there are several other uses of this particular technology, and I feel that this particular technology is under-used in the classroom. I have been using a combination of Google Forms and QR Code Generators in my classroom this year. For this particular project, I decided to focus on a way that I can use this technology in my classroom to enhance my time, effort, and paper. I created a Google Forms Quiz (which if you haven't ventured into the Google Forms territory before, I suggest you do so). The Google Forms Quiz is a quick reading check on The Crucible Act 1 (which is the text my 9th graders are currently reading). In the actual Google Forms document, I am able to type in the questions I want to ask and list multiple choice, fill in the blank, or short answer/paragraph. I am also able to provide Google with my answer key so that it automatically recognizes when students answer correctly or incorrectly. Now, I go to the QR Code generator and create a QR code for my Google Forms Quiz. This code will allow students to access my quiz from their phones, ipads, or tablets. Students can actually use SnapChat as a QR Code Scanner, so most of them will not even have to download a QR Code Scanner App. As my students walk into class, the QR Code for their daily quiz will be posted on the board or somewhere in the classroom. Students will scan the code in order to begin their quiz. I am able to access the results in a Google Sheets document and it documents each student's quiz results which allows me to quickly assess and grade daily quizzes. Another use for this technology is classroom bathroom/hall passes. I have QR Codes designated for the bathroom, locker, office, and nurse on the board near my door. Instead of my students scanning the code and taking a quiz, they are prompted to type in their name. I have the Google Forms document set to track dates and times for this particular document. This eliminates a lot of interruptions in the classroom! I have just started using this form of technology in my classroom, but I feel as though the possibilities are endless. I really like the convenience of this technology, and I feel that it is one that certainly aids the teacher's organization and work load but also enhances student learning. I feel this is not a type of technology that is used just for the sake of using technology.
QR Code for The Crucible Quiz Act 1 Part 1 Reading Check:
Revision Project: Wiki
For my revision project, I decided to edit and revise my Wiki Project. I liked my original Wiki project, but I actually ended up using a Wiki page in my 11th grade classes for their Parallel Reading Assignment this semester. I thought this might be a better use of the Wiki than my original plan. For this assignment, my students can choose from four novels loosely based on Robin Hood as we study Robin Hood in class. Each semester or quarter, students are required to read a novel outside of class. The novel is sometimes chosen for them or they are given options, but it always aligns (parallels) with what we are reading/studying in class. The students chose from the following novels:
Here is a link to the Wiki Page. I'm sure this week there will be a lot of activity throughout the next few days as it is due next week!
McGeeBritLit
Final Reflection: